Photo by BRITTNEY PELLOQUIN -- Brittney Pelloquin uses the body as her canvas. Here today, her 'Koi' artwork washes away in the shower.

Advocate staff photo by PATRICIA GANNON -- Artist Brittney Pelloquin

Advocate staff photo by PATRICIA GANNON -- Brittney Pelloquin

Brittney Pelloquin has blossomed on “Skin Wars.”

The Lafayette artist advanced to Wednesday’s finale of the GSN body-painting competition series last week with her interpretation of a hibiscus.

“Watching my piece come to life on stage feels amazing,” Pelloquin said in the episode. “It’s a really strong piece. The colors are beautiful, the water on the petals looks realistic. I feel like I’m on a good ol’ winning streak.”

“It is lovely. I love the colors. I love how soft and loving it is,” celebrity judge RuPaul Charles commented.

There may be a time during the competition when Brittney Pelloquin will have to wing it.

Last week, the four remaining contestants used contortionist models, first with a single model to create an animal in the mini challenge, and then five models for the second, six-hour challenge of designing their own multi-body illusion concept.

Pelloquin’s meticulous presentation had her painted models emerging from a tight cluster bud into the multi-hued tropical flower in full bloom. A dragonfly on one petal and the water droplets added to its realism.

Earlier in the show, Pelloquin won the mini-challenge, a three-hour project, with her graceful, bending ostrich painting. She used one of the model’s arms to depict the bird’s long neck, with its head painted on her hand, finished off with a glass bauble for the eye.

“I’ve never had the chance to really work with a contortionist before. I want this so bad right now. Everybody back home is counting on me,” she said. “My grandpa is my biggest supporter, and he has cancer. What’s driving me to win this right now is I want to make him proud. That for me is an overwhelming feeling.”

“It’s a combination of both,” she explained. “I like the softness of the air brush and then, for textures and feathers, I use the (paint) brush on top.”

Joining Broussard native Pelloquin, 28, in the finale will be Alison Kenyon, of Grass Valley, California, and Rick Uribe, of El Paso, Texas.

The winner, to be named Wednesday night, gets $100,000.

“(I have) an overwhelming sense of accomplishment from grueling hours of hard work finally paying off!” Pelloquin said Sunday. “When it was down to only four painters there was no ‘just getting by’ anymore … I made sure to bring out my best work in the end knowing that this was going to make it or break it for me.

“To be a part of this journey and to stay in the game until the end is unbelievable … It is all very exciting and nerve-wracking considering that there are so many watching me put my heart on the line. I am very proud of making it this far, and I can only be grateful for the opportunities that are ahead of me, win or lose.”

Pelloquin won’t be at her show party in Lafayette Wednesday night. She’s in Austria to compete in this weekend’s World Bodypainting Festival. Hundreds of body painters from more than 30 countries will vie in multiple categories. Pelloquin will compete in the “brush and sponge” category.